Lord, Teach us to pray!

XVII Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 11:1-13 Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test." And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,' and he says in reply from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.' I tell you, if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

Before my ordination I was sent to work in a parish and one of my responsibilities was the catechism program. It was April so the program was pretty far along. I remember entering into a classroom and the children were all silent with a blank sheet of paper in front of them. I asked the catechist want was going on and he replied. “They are taking a test.” A test I asked. Yes, he said, “They have to write out the Our Father. They have to know how to pray if they are going to make the first communion.” Well, he is right. Children should know who to pray if they are going to make their first communion. Writing out the “Our Father” is not about learning how to pray though. It isn’t praying. I think that people make too much a chore out of prayer. We make it much more complicated that it needs to be. Formulas and books and classes special retreats and seminars. In today’s Gospel one of the disciples asks Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” And Jesus gives a fairly simply answer teaching us how to pray. Before considering the Our Father let’s look at the second part of the gospel. Jesus gives an example of asking a friend for a loaf of bread in the middle of the night. Jesus is telling us to be persistent in our prayer. Prayer isn’t about asking Jesus for something, it isn’t about going to church on Sunday and thinking, “now I’m good for the week.” No, Jesus calls us to be persistent in our prayer. Which I take to mean that we need to develop a practice of prayer. That is why it is important to say our morning prayers or night prayers. To have a practice of praying regularly. And it isn’t so much about praying a lot so we will get whatever we want. Persistent prayer isn’t about changing God’s will. It is about changing our will so that we will want what Jesus wants. The second lesson Jesus tells us to ask for good things and he uses an example of parents who give good things to their children. If you son asks for an egg you won’t give them a scorpion. If you daughter asks for a fish, you won’t give her a snake. My question is what about those times that you ask for a snake. Or when you ask for something that isn’t good, even though you think that it is good. We have to realize that God’s will is not our will. We see things for a day, but God sees things for eternity. We might be convinced that we are asking for a good thing, especially when we pray for healing, but God’s will is different. We need to be persistent in our prayer so that God can bend our wills so we can accept God’s will. Finally, the Our Father. The Our Father we have here is much shorter than the version that we pray at Mass. At mass we use Matthew’s version which is much more liturgical with 7 petitions. Luke uses simpler language with only 5 petitions. Luke’s is not a condensed version of Matthew’s, but probably it is more original. Matthew’s version had been added on to so that it could be more of a formal prayer. Luke is quite simply teaching us how to pray. When you pray say, “Our Father, Hallowed be your name.” Begin your prayer but directing it to God, to praise God. To recognize God’s power and goodness. “Give us this day our daily bread, forgive our sins and lead us not to the test.” So basically, in our prayer, ask for what you need, bread, food, health, job, shelter, whatever it is that you need. Forgiveness, pray that God will forgive us our sins, our shortcomings and faults, basically to make us better people more forgiving people. And pray not to be tested. To be protected from the evils and problems in the world in which we live. We know that we live in a dangerous world. We ask for God’s protection from anything that could harm us. Saint Alphonsus, the founder of the Redemptorists, is the doctor of prayer. A large part of his ministry was teaching people how to pray. Again, Alphonsus didn’t offer classes and present complicated formulas or methods on prayer. His book on prayer is really just a brief pamphlet, only about 27 pages. Alphonsus, like Jesus encourages us to turn to God in prayer. Simply open your hearts and talk to God as you would talk to a friend. Praise God and tell him what you need. It is as simple as all that.